[Fevi Kwik v. Fixo Kwik] Bombay High Court grants ad-interim relief to Pidilite in trademark infringement suit

The Bombay High Court recently granted ad-interim relief to Pidilite Industries Ltd., manufacturer of adhesive Fevi Kwik, in a trademark infringement suit initiated by it against Fixo Industries which manufactures adhesive Fixo Kwik [Pidilite Industries Ltd. vs Fixo Industries and Anr.]..Justice Manish Pitale observed that an examination of the names of the two products showed that the mark used by the defendants was prima facie similar to the registered trademark of Pidilite and, therefore, likely to confuse the consumer."There is sufficient material placed on record to show that prima facie the mark allegedly being used by the defendants would have the tendency of causing confusion in the mind of a purchaser. The use of the word ‘KWIK’ and the sentence ‘ONE DROP INSTANT ADHESIVE’ along with the image of a globe create deception and it is found that there is a likelihood of consumer being confused when the defendants’ product is placed before him," the Court said..Advocate Hiren Kamod, appearing for Pidilite, told the Court that the plaintiff came across the defendants' product in October 2021 and noticed that their mark 'Fixo Kwik' was deceptively similar to the plaintiff's mark. Kamod claimed that not only the placement of the words used in the mark, but also the design of the packet was a colourable imitation of the original packet of the plaintiff.Further, he claimed that Fixo's proprietor applied for registration of the mark in 2013 and 2014 but saw his applications rejected by the competent authority. He stated that despite rejection of their applications for registration, the defendants continued to blatantly use the counterfeit mark, due to which the plaintiff moved the court..Interestingly, defendant no.2 in the petition, who plaintiffs claim was the proprietor of Fixo, denied anything to do with the mark and stated that she had nothing to do with the company at all. Her counsel argued that in absence of material to demonstrate any connection between her and the product, no ad-interim relief could be granted to the plaintiff, at least in so far as she was concerned..However, given the court's observation that the mark was similar to the plaintiff's registered mark, it found that a strong prima facie case was made out by the plaintiff for grant of ad-interim relief. Therefore, pending final disposal of the suit, it restrained the defendant from infringing the plaintiff's registered mark by way of selling, manufacturing, trading, retailing, exporting, distributing and advertising the product, Fixo Kwik. .Advocate Kamod appeared along with Advocates Nishad Kulkarni, Aasif Navodia and Khushboo Jhunjhunwala instructed by Khaitan & Co.Advocates Fakhruddin Khan, Salman and Saima for appeared for the defendants..[Read Order]